Stop for picker mechanisms



Se t, 28, 1943. E. A, SANTON STOP FOR PICKER MECHANISM Filed June 23, 1942 FIEaE Fi E INVENTOR N Y H E S N A. W m w m L Patented Sept. 28, 1943 UNITED s'ror roa rioKEa Mechanisms I Elliot A. Santon, Worcester, Mass, assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application June 23, 1942,"seria1 N 448,083

11 Claims. (01. 139-147) a I This invention relates to improvements in stops :for loom picker mechanism and it is the general object of the invention toprovide convenient andeficient 'means for arresting movement of the heavy moving parts of the picker mechanism in time to prevent breakage of the pickerstick when the latter strikes its 'bunter.

It is customary in certain types of looms to employ a picker shaft on which is mounted a picker cam and. a picker arm connected by a sweep stick and .lug strap to the picker stick. A- rotation .a'rm on the bottom shaft of the loom engages the cam to rock the picker shaft in a direction to move the picker arm, sweep stick and lug strap, inwardly to actuate the stick at the time of picking. The picker shaft is ordinarily free to rotate in its bearings and acquires a momentum which ordinarily is stopped by errgagement of the picker stick with its hunter.

The rotational force of the picking shaft is communicated to the stick through the sweep stick and it is for this reason that the stick is required to withstand the checking force which stops rotation of the picker shaft. It is an important object of my present invention to provide a stop to engage a part moving with the picker shaft so that the latter and the parts moving with it may be stopped prior to engagement of the picker stick with its 'bunter at the end of the picking stroke; By the use of my invention the only force which acts to break the picker stick at the end of the picking stroke is that required to stop the motion of the stick itself.

It is a more specific object of my present invention to provide a picker mechanism "stop including an upright on which'is vertically'slidable a sleeve resting on a cushion of some soft elastic material such as'rubber ahdin the upper part of which'is located a leather pad to receive the blow of a stop arm on the picker shaft.

With these and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds; my in- I vention resides in the combinationand arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawing, whereina convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

sleeve prior to application thereto of the shock absorbing pad,

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionthrough the. stationary upright forming apart ofmy invention and.

the'like,- and p Y W V Fig. 6-is a vertical sectiongon line 6--6, Fig. 1 {Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and '2, I have I shown "aloom frame HL lay ll jandshuttle S Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a part of one end" of a loom showing my invention, I

2 is a side elevation ofa picker shaft and associated parts looking in the direction of arrow '2, Fig.1, s

3 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale of-s'tructure on line 3---3 of Fig. 2,

4 is a verticwil-section through the sliding which is propelled b'y a picker I Z. 'Apicker' stick 13 for the picker l 2 'is pivoted at to a rocker foot 'lfi' mounte'd on arocker shaft Hi journaled for oscillation-in the lower part of the'loom, frame, 'A picker shaft H, which may be rectangular in cross section; is rockably mounted,

in' front and-back bearings I8 and l9,respecti vely, secured to the loom frame. Mounted on the; shaft l-l-is a picker shoeZlifhaving' a cam 2l for engagement with a rol122'ona picker arm 23 secured'to the bottom shaft 24 of thel'oom. The

picker shoe isiheld in position Gri -the shaft l'lf by "setiscrews' Z51 The-picker arm -3!l"has a hub 3| secured to the shaftrlilby-a set screw 3?. The upper part of thefipicker rarm is pivoted as at 35 tofa'sweepQ stick Bf-the outer end of which "is connected as atxsl' to' a lug'str'ap 38: The lug strap is of the usual U-shaped form 'and'eXtends around the picker. stickil-a'and' is held in vertical position on the latter by a holde'r 39. There is af certainjxa'mou'nt of 10st motion 'betw'eenthe lugv strap and picker s'tick a's indicated in Fig. 6. The outer or right hand part of: the lug strap bearstightly-against the rightredge' of the pickerstick as v seen in Fig. .1 duringpicking operation but. the picker. stick .is -f-ree to move a limited amount .tothe left relatively to the lug:

strap at the Lend of. the pickingstroke, j as suggested .by space 42in Fig.6. I

Inthe operation of the mechanism.

recedes to cause inward movement lof the picker stick l3, to the return. 1-,;to propel-the shuttle Sto theopposite side ofthe loom.-- A usualin:

ciden't in the operation of the picking -mecha nis'm is thatthe shaft ll-and the parts mounted on it contin-ue their motion after the camand roll separate due to their momentum. This exs owing the resilient washer made of rubber or I thus far described rotation of the bottomlshaftfl causes periodic engagement-between theroll 22 and the earn .2 l to rock the. picker shat-t I! in a counterclockwise direction as'viewed in ,F-igs J. asthe lay against its lay carried bunter 45 with sufiicient force to strain or break the stick.

My present invention provides means for arresting the overthrow of the picker mechanism before the picker stick strikes its bunter 45. In carrying my invention into effect I provide a stand 53 having an upright stem preferably cylindrical and mounted on a foot 52 through which extendbo1t.5by"whichthestand is secured to the floor-onwhich the loom rests. A cap 55 is provided with an internal bore 56 which fits snugly around the stem 5| but is free to slide vertically thereon. A vertical slot 51 in the lower part of the cap receives a stop screw 58 tapped into a threaded hole 59 in the stem 5| as shown in Fig. 3, to limit vertical movelment of the cap on the stem.

The cap 55 has a horizontalheadtfl which rests on a resilient body or disk 6| made of soft rubber or some similar material resting on the top of stem 5!. The upper surface of head 60 is provided with a recess 65 undercut as at 66 to receive a leather washer El. The latter is preferably of the samediameter as the small or upper diameter of the recess 65 and the Washer is preferably somewhat thicker than the depth of the recess to project above the cap. The leather washer is driven into the recess and its lower part eventually spreads into the bottom of the recess. A hub .is secured to the shaft l1 and has a stop arm 1| which may be formed as shown in Fig.1 to extend over the washer 67.

In assembling, the stand is secured in position by the bolts 53, the rubber body or disk 6| is placedon top of stem 5|, the cap is then fitted down over the disk BI and upper end of the stem and the stop screw 58 passed through the slot5'l and threadedinto the tapped hole 59. The screw 58 prevents accidental removal of the cap 55, from the stem and permits downward motion of the cap to compress the rubber disk.

In operation, the parts will be so set that the arm II will strike the leather washer 61 shortly after the roll 22 passes beyond the left extremity of the oam 2| as viewed in Fig. 2 and before the picker stick strikes its bunter 45. The momentumof rotation of the shaft I! and the parts connected to it will ,be arrested partly by the inertia of the cap 55 and partly by the resilience of the ruber disk 5|,but the picker stick is free to continue its movement in slot 42 of the lug strapuntil it strikes the hunter 45. It is for this reason that the only force which drives the picker stick against the hunter is its own momentum'. The force of stopping all the parts of the picking mechanism up to and" including the lug strap is exerted against my improved stop and is not communicated to the pickerstick.

In the operation of my invention it is found that breakage of picker sticks is greatly reduced without impairing the efficiency of the picking mechanism. While I have stated that the arm does not engage the leather pad 61 until after the roll 22 has left the cam 2|, yet I do not wish to be limited to this relationship, inasmuch as the resilience of the disk 6| will permit engagement of the arm 'H' with the leather pad while the roll'22 is still in engagement with theleft part of the cam 2|. It is also to be understood that although rubber and leather have been specified as the materials of which parts BI and 61,respectively, are made I do not wish thus to be limited and these parts if desired can be made a picker shaft provided with of materials having the same general characteristics as rubber and leather.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple form of stop for a loom picking mechanism including a fixed stand and a cap slidable thereon against the action of a shock absorbing disk or the like made of rubber or some similar material. The arm "H moves with all of the parts attached to the picker shaft and therefore serves to stop the latter prior to engagement of the picker stick with its hunter.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. A picker mechanism stop for a loom having a picker shaft provided with a stop arm, said stop including a stationary base member, a second member normally out of contact with said stop arm to be engaged and moved by the stop arm relatively to the first member when the shaft rocks on a picking movement thereof, one of said members being hollow to receive the other member and one of said members supporting the other member, and a body of softwelastic ma terial located within thehollow member for engagement with the other member:to hold" said members in normal relative position with the second member in position for engagement with said stop arm, said body being yieldable to permit relative movement of said members by the stop arm. I

2. A picker mechanism stop for a loom having a picker shaft provided, with a stop'arm, said stop including a stationary base member, a second member to be moved by the stop arm relatively to the first member, oneof said members being hollow to receive the other member, a body of soft elastic material located within the hollow member for engagement with the other member to hold said members in normal relative position for cooperation with the stop arm, said body being yieldable to permit relative movement of said members by the'stop arm, and a shock absorber carried by the second member 'for'engagement with the stop arm.

r 3. A picker mechanism stop for a loom having a stop arm, said stop including a stationary base member, a second member to be; moved by the stop arm relatively to the first member and having an undercut openingin the part thereof adjacent to said stop arm, one of said members being hollow to receive the other member, abody of soft elastic material located within-the hollow member for engagement with the other member to hold said members in normal relative position for cooperation with said stop arm, said body being yieldable to permit relative movement of said members by the stop arm, and a shock absorber held in said undercut opening andpositioned for engagement with the stop arm.

4. A picker mechanism stop for a loom having a picker shaft provided with a stop arm, said stop including a stationary base member, a second member to be moved by the stop arm relatively to the firstmember, one of said members being hollow to receive the other member, a body of soft elastic material located within the hollow member for engagement ber to hold said members in normal relative position for cooperation with the stop arm, said body being yieldable to permit relative movement with the other memof said members by the stop arm, and means on one of said members to engage the other memher and limit relative movement of said members.

5. A picker mechanism stop for a picker shaft having a stopping arm thereon, said stop including a stationary base, a cap Vertically slidable on and surrounding the upper part of the base, and a body of shock absorbing material within the cap and supported by the base and on' tion for engagement with the stop arm prior to completion of the picking strokeof the picker stick, and said body being compressible to assist in stopping movement of said stop arm and picker shaft.

9. In a loom having a picker stick to be given a picking stroke by apicker shaft provided with a stop arm, a fixed upright, a cap surrounding the upperflend of the upright and slidable thereon, and a body of soft resilient material within the cap held by the latter in position for engagement with said upright, said body normally hold- 7 ing the cap in position for, engagement with the a'soft rubber disk within the member and located between said head and the stem, and means to limit upward movement of the member with respect to the stem, said member being movable along said stem by said arm against the action of said rubber disk to stop the shaft.

7. A picker mechanism stop for a loom having a picker shaft provided with a stop arm, said stop including a stationary base having an upright stem, a hollow member slidable verticallyi on said stern and having a horizontal head extending over said stem, a body of soft elastic rubber within said member between said head and the stem, and a shock absorber secured to the upper surface of said. head for engagement with saidarm,

the latter when engagingv the shock absorber moving the member against the action of said body. i

8. In a loom having a picker stick to be given a picking stroke by a picker shaft provided with a stop arm, a fixed upright member, an impact member for engagement with the stop arm, one of said members being hollow to receive the other member'and said members being relatively slidable, and a body of resilient shock absorbing material within the hollow member positioned for engagement with the other member, said. body normally holding the impact member in posistop arm prior to completion of said picking stroke, said body being compressible to assist the stopping movement of the shaft by engagement with the stop arm by the cap.

10. In a loom having a picker shaft to give a I picker stick connected thereto a picking stroke, said shaft having a stop arm secured thereto, a fixed member, a second member movable along and guided by the first member, one of said members being hollow to receive the other memher, a body of elastic shock absorbing material within the hollow member and held thereby in position for engagement with the other member, said body of elastic, material holding said other member in position for engagement by said stop arm to exerta stopping force on the shaft prior to completion of the picking stroke of the picker stick.

' 11. In a loom having a picker shaft to give'a picker stick connected thereto a picking stroke, said shaft having a stop arm secured thereto, a fixed member, a second member movable'along and guided by the first member, a yieldable pad onthe second member to communicate a force to the latterfrom the stop arm, one of said members being hollow to receive the other member, a body of elastic shockabsorbing material within the hollow member and held thereby in position for engagement with the other member, said body. of elastic material holding said other mem-' be! with said pad in position for engagement by said stop arm to exert a stopping force on the shaft prior to completion of the picking stroke of the picker stick.

' ELLIOT A. SANTON. 

